Marsha:
> In my home, there was teasing as to whether we were
> Dutch (Deutsch)
> or Johnny Bull. My mother was second generation
> American from Wales
> and Cornwall. My father was born in Berlin,
> Germany, November 11,
> 1918, the day German surrendered at the end of WWI.
> That would make
> me third generation English/American on my mother's
> side and first
> generation German/American on my father's side.
SA: Somebody must have talked to you about where they
were from. That's what I was wondering, if somebody
talked to you about your family. My dad's father was
sent here from Italy by his father who was in WWI and
saw the horrors and said never again. He said War is
so terrible and needs to be avoided as best as
possible. He was a man of his word, and had a good
memory. When Mussolini was gathering the brown shirt
youth, my great grandfather, who was already working
in the U.S., sent for his sons. They were
sharecroppers, farmers. My grandfather upon eating
his first hot dog in New York City asked my great
grandfather if they could go back home and eat good
food. My great grandfather just smiled at him.
Incidentally, my grandfather remembered how terrible
war was from his father's stories and he listened to
his father, and knew war was something to avoid.
During WW2, my grandfather was sent to Texas, and he
saw Italians in prison camp. He thought it very odd.
He was Italian on one side of the prison fence, and
they the other side. Here's a recent one, that may
not make too many people happy, but during the Vietnam
War, my grandfather remembered what his father said
about his experience in WW1. So, he was going to send
my father and uncle to Canada if they were drafted.
They never were, the war ended soon after they came of
age. I will listen to my great grandfather. We
learned our lesson. I will avoid war, and will let my
son know the stories, too.
My grandmother on my dad's side came from
northern Italy, my grandfather from south central
Italy. She was Venice, well-dressed, industrial type
folk. My grandfather was a farmer, loved to fish in
the mountains, and was very social (lived in a
village). On my mothers side, more of mixed bag.
My mother's grandfather and grandmother, on her dad's
side were from Poland. Her grandfather on her
mother's side was from Germany. Her great grandmother
on her mother's side was from Slovenia.
Marsha:
> From my mother's
> side I received lots of gumption. From my father's
> side I received a
> love of opera and classical music, a love of books
> and probably my interest in philosophy.
> What about you?
SA: From my mother's a very acute survival awareness,
with my grandfather's experience of escape from prison
camp in Burma during WW2 to their street toughness,
grandfather hardly around during their youth (he
gambled a lot), and their mother needing to work.
They were very tough in the street. My grandmother
still verbalizes 'no fear', and when events get tough
is verbalizes how she's a survivor. She always
mentions how her grandchildren are either smart or
tough - much of the latter. She has nicknamed my
nephew 'toughie'.
On my father's side a spiritual 'aura',
philosophical, and religious inclinations. Also,
opera music, classical music, books, artistic
inclinations (my father loved to paint, draw, and
write, anything artistic he dabbled in, but these more
than others), quiet sitting, gardening, enjoying
plants, bird's singing, and cooking (a good get
together on my father's side might involve cooking,
the eating is just a pleasurable side effect of the
get together), etc... Both sides are very family
oriented. When the families get together, my mother's
is more tough with each other, and they get real loud
and may talk over each other. My father's is more
quiet, laid back, and contemplative.
Marsha:
> From Red Pine's comments on The Platform Sutra,
> "Thus, to see our
> nature is to experience our nature, to experience
> its emptiness."
SA: Yes, and life lives on.
SA
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